Pangolins confiscated from smugglers inside a container during a news conference in Medan, North Sumatra, Indonesia, on June 14, 2017. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, Binsar Bakkara)

Canadian wildlife enforcement officers have seized dozens of black-bear parts, diet pills made from endangered African plants and the bodies of two scaly anteaters as part of an international blitz targeting smugglers and poachers, Environment and Climate Change Canada says.

The seizures took place in June when Canada, for the third time, took part in Interpol’s Operation Thunderball with 108 other countries to go after global smugglers, poachers and traffickers of endangered and exotic species.

Sheldon Jordan, Canada’s director general for wildlife enforcement, said the public may not realize the extent of the smuggling issue in this country. He noted that about one-third of shark meat used in restaurants is illegally imported from endangered shark species.

One-third of eel in Canada is from Europe, where it isn’t allowed to be exported, Jordan said. Last year, 15 tonnes of European eel was seized in Canada during Operation Thunderball, but none was found this year.

Globally wildlife crime is estimated to be a $200 billion business, but nobody has been able to put a figure on the cost within Canada. He said, however, that there is a cost to the environment.

“We basically have a choice here: we can stop wildlife crime, or we can watch criminals drive wildlife to extinction,” he said.

The Canadian focus was on the export of at-risk species from Canada, particularly during the tenuous spring breeding season, and the illegal import of exotic animals and plants

One of the most surprising finds was two dead, scaly anteaters found in Montreal smuggled from Cameroon. The animals, known as pangolins, are the most trafficked mammal in the world, with their scales in high demand for use in traditional medicines.